None.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for attachment to a building. More particularly, the present invention relates to a building ornament, building ventilator, roof ventilator, or cupola.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cupolas are placed on top of buildings for ornamentation, and often they are used also for ventilation. Most cupolas have been individually crafted from wood, making them expensive. Further, being fabricated from wood, they have been expensive to maintain.
Manufactured units, fabricated from sheet metal, have been available. While having a cost advantage over individually-crafted units of wood, they have been expensive to manufacture due to the number of individual pieces that must be formed and then fastened together.
Additional disadvantages of cupolas made from sheet metal include the fact that they are easily damaged in shipping, and after installation, they are susceptible to damage from hail and falling tree limbs.
A building ornament or building ventilator is provided for permanently attaching to, and incorporation into, pitched roofs as an integral part of homes or other buildings. In a preferred form, the ornament or ventilator is a cupola. The cupola includes a top portion that preferably is in the form of a four-sided pyramid, and a four-sided base portion. Preferably, whatever form the present invention takes, at least a portion is made of a translucent plastic, and an illumination unit is enclosed inside.
For attaching to double-pitched roofs with various pitches, two embodiments are provided. In a preferred embodiment, pairs of spaced-apart flanges are integrally molded to the base portion, with steeper pitched pairs of the flanges being disposed closer to the housing. By cutting off one or more pairs of flanges, the building ornament or ventilator is adapted to different pitches of roofs.
In an other embodiment, guide lines, that may be either raised or depressed, are molded onto the base portion to provide a cutting guide for various roof pitches.
Optionally, ventilation slots are provided, and bugs are kept out by plastic screens that are plastic welded inside the housing. The two portions are separately or integrally molded by either rotation molding or blow molding.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a building ornament for incorporation into a roof of a building that is part of an estate as an integral part of the building comprises: a molded-plastic base portion that circumscribes an enclosed area of the roof; a molded-plastic top portion that substantially covers the enclosed area, and that is operatively attached to the base portion; an illumination unit that is disposed inside the building ornament and is operatively attached to one of the portions; one of the portions is translucent; and means for permanently attaching the base portion to the roof.
In a second aspect of the present invention, a ventilator for incorporation into a roof of a building as an integral part thereof comprises: a molded-plastic housing having a chamber that opens downwardly through the ventilator; means for allowing air to flow from the chamber to an atmosphere; a portion of the ventilator is translucent; and the ventilator further comprises an illumination unit being disposed inside the housing.